Steve Geller

Steve: Who doesn't like Anthony Davis?

by Steve Geller,posted Feb 15 2014 5:03PM

Anthony Davis may just be in his 2nd season in the NBA, but the 20 year old earned a spot in his first All-Star game that just so happens to be in New Orleans, the city he represents night in and night out for the Pelicans. Davis is already leaving a distinct mark on the league and we should plan on seeing him playing in many more All-Star games to come.

“Oh absolutely,” said league MVP Lebron James after today’s practice. “Davis is an All-Star for a reason. He’s got 20 plus points, 10 plus rebounds and a league high 3.5 blocks per game. They (the Pelicans) have a great one in him.”

Fellow big man, Roy Hibbert of the Indian Pacers, had high praise for the soon to be superstar.

“Davis is a terrific athlete. He’s growing as a player on the offensive and defensive end. The sky’s the limit for him”

New commissioner Adam Silver will always hold this year’s event in New Orleans dear to his heart since it’s the first All-Star weekend for him as the comish. He too has been impressed with the young Davis, but not just his on the court ability.

“Physically he’s really filled out since he came into the league and he’s such an incredibly skilled player and he’s a leader,” Silver said. “As a great player once told me, championships are won on the bus. And so you need to have the character to be a great player as well. That’s the kind of character Anthony Davis has.”

The leadership “AD” has shown this year for the Pelicans has been quite evident. He embraces that role as well and head coach Monty Williams hasn’t shied away from calling the Pelicans Davis’ team.

Another huge positive is that the kid is just a winner. Davis won a national championship his freshman year at Kentucky and then helped team USA earn a gold medal in the Summer Olympics. So does making to his first All-Star game rank up there with those accomplishments?

“It’s up there,” said Davis. “That’s one of your goals; everybody wants to make the All-Star game. So it’s definitely up there, but I think that gold medal ranks number one and the All-Star game is right behind it.”

The city and team was in desperate need of a new face of the franchise after point guard Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers. It was a tough blow to lose such a talented player that brought so much success to the then Hornets franchise. I asked CP3 how it feels to see the torch passed to Anthony Davis as the new face of basketball for New Orleans.

“Perfect, it’s perfect,” said Paul. “The good thing about it is that I actually like “AD”. He’s such a great guy. I think the city of New Orleans deserves somebody like him, who is a hard worker and unbelievably humble. This is his team, this is his city and the city is in good hand for a long time”